For the civil administration purpose, the state of Punjab is divided into 22 districts. These districts are further divided into tehsils and sub-tehsils.
The administrative head of a district is called as Deputy Commissioner (D.C.) or District Magistrate (D.M.) which is generally an I.A.S. officer. The upper unit of civil administration is a Division and the officer incharge of a Division is Commissioner. There are total five
divisions in Punjab.
The incharge of police department at district level is Senior Superintendent of Police (S.S.P), but here it is important to note that police districts in Punjab may or may not be same as the normal districts. For example, Khanna and Batala are respectively part of Ludhiana & Gurdaspur districts but these are separate police districts.
The details given on this page are divided into following sections:
How many district in Punjab
Largest district of Punjab
Smallest district of Punjab
How many district in Punjab
As of June 2020, there are total 22 districts in Punjab. A complete list of these districts and some details of each district are given in the below table. This table shows the district wise population and literacy rate, area of each district in Punjab, the name of administrative Division under which a district falls, name of the region where district is located like Majha, Malwa or Doaba.
The distance of each district headquarter from the state capital Chandigarh is also given.
Do you think that the state govt will create a new district in Punjab in 2020? There are always demands by local people and politicians to give the status of district to some cities. In the past there have been political talks and promises to convert some cities like Malerkotla, Batala, Khanna etc. into districts.
Lets see if these promises and demands are fulfilled in the year 2020 or not.
List of Districts in Punjab
| District | Population | Area (Sq. Km.) | Division | Region | Literacy Rate | Distance |
| Ludhiana | 34,98,739 | 3767 | Patiala | Malwa | 82.2 | 100 KM |
| Amritsar | 24,90,656 | 2647 | Jalandhar | Majha | 76.3 | 234 KM |
| Jalandhar | 21,93,590 | 2632 | Jalandhar | Doaba | 82.5 | 147 KM |
| Patiala | 18,95,686 | 3218 | Patiala | Malwa | 75.3 | 63 KM |
| Sangrur | 16,55,169 | 3610 | Patiala | Malwa | 68.0 | 117 KM |
| Gurdaspur | 16,21,725 | 2635 | Jalandhar | Majha | 78.0 | 220 KM |
| Hoshiarpur | 15,86,625 | 3365 | Jalandhar | Doaba | 84.6 | 137 KM |
| Bathinda | 13,88,525 | 3385 | Faridkot | Malwa | 68.3 | 226 KM |
| Tarn Taran | 11,19,627 | 2449 | Jalandhar | Majha | 67.8 | 232 KM |
| Fazilka | 10,63,737 | 3113 | Firozpur | Malwa | 68.9 | 328 KM |
| Moga | 9,95,746 | 2216 | Firozpur | Malwa | 70.7 | 170 KM |
| Ajitgarh (Mohali) | 9,94,628 | 1093 | Ropar | Malwa | 83.8 | 8 KM |
| Firozpur (Ferozepur) | 9,65,337 | 2190 | Firozpur | Malwa | 68.9 | 225 KM |
| Shri Muktsar Sahib | 9,01,896 | 2615 | Firozpur | Malwa | 65.8 | 255 KM |
| Kapurthala | 8,15,168 | 1632 | Jalandhar | Doaba | 79.1 | 175 KM |
| Mansa | 7,69,751 | 2171 | Faridkot | Malwa | 61.8 | 177 KM |
| Rup Nagar (Ropar) | 6,84,627 | 1369 | Ropar | Malwa | 82.2 | 45 KM |
| Pathankot | 6,76,598 | 929 | Jalandhar | Majha | 84.6 | 240 KM |
| Faridkot | 6,17,508 | 1469 | Faridkot | Malwa | 69.6 | 220 KM |
| Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawan Shahr) | 6,12,310 | 1267 | Ropar | Doaba | 79.8 | 97 KM |
| Fatehgarh Sahib | 6,00,163 | 1180 | Patiala | Malwa | 79.4 | 48 KM |
| Barnala | 5,95,527 | 1410 | Patiala | Malwa | 67.8 | 126 KM |
Normally there are two parameters to count a district as largest or smallest and these are - Area & Population. So many students ask the question - Which is the largest district of Punjab area wise? Which is the largest district of Punjab population wise? Which is the smallest district of Punjab?
To know the answers with explanation, check the following sections.
Smallest district of Punjab
In terms of area,
Pathankot is the smallest district of Punjab with a total area of 929 sq. km. Some sources say Mohali (SAS Nagar) as the smallest district of Punjab, which is no longer correct answer. The total area of Mohali district is 1093 sq. km., which is higher than the area of Pathankot district.
Barnala is the smallest district of Punjab population wise. The total population of Barnala district is 5.96 lakh (census 2011) and this is lower than any other district of Punjab.
Largest district of Punjab
Ludhiana is the largest district of Punjab both by area and population. The area of Ludhiana district is 3767 sq. km. and its total population according to census 2011 is almost 35 lakh.
Some books or website will tell you Amritsar or Firozpur as the largest district of Punjab, which is no longer correct. After the creation of Tarn Taran district out of Amritsar and formation of Fazilka out of Firozpur, these are no longer the largest district in the state.
Punjab Districts - Highlights
In this section, we will share some important information about the districts of Punjab:
- How many districts in Punjab: There are total 22 districts in Punjab.
- Largest District of Punjab: Ludhiana is the largest district of Punjab, both by area and population. The area of Ludhiana district is 3767 sq. km. and its total population according to census 2011 is almost 35 lakh.
- Some sources say that Amritsar is the largest district of Punjab, but after the creation of Tarn Taran district out of Amritsar, it is no longer the largest district in the state.
- Border Districts: There are six border districts in Punjab which share the boundry with Pakistan. These districts are Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Firozpur and Fazilka.
- Hoshiarpur district has the highest literacy rate. The literacy rate in Hoshiarpur district is 84.6%.
- Pathankot is the smallest district of Punjab in terms of area. Its area is 929 sq. km.
- According to population, Barnala is the smallest district of Punjab. The population of Barnala district is 5.96 lakh (2011 census).
- There were 11 districts in Punjab after the Reorganization of Punjab in 1966. These districts were - Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Kapurthala, Bathinda, Ropar, Sangrur.